Top customer reviews

I was extremely pleased for many years with the original Band-Aid Liquid Bandage which contained the miracle ingredient 2-octyl cyanoacrylate, a human-safe version of superglue which is currently used by doctors/surgeons/vets as the best available product. This Nexcare product doesn't work as well in any respect compared to the original, and 3M knows it, but it is no longer sold over the counter to people (evidently too many folks were not careful in using it). Note that acetone (horribly stinky nail-polish remover) or mineral oil or any superglue remover does remove this human-safe version of superglue, but this was not common-enough knowledge and folks did not have a remover readily available when they misused it. So it was removed from the consumer market several years ago, evidently due to liability concerns.

I used the original Band-Aid liquid bandage for many years for my painful winter skin cracks. A miracle product since it instantly cut the pain. When it was discontinued I tried literally every other product on the market and all had serious deficiencies. This Nexcare liquid bandaid is adequate in filling skin cracks except it doesn't cut the pain at all (my main gripe) and doesn't last nearly as long.

I just serendipitously stumbled onto the wikipedia entry for Cyanoacrylate, which includes this in its introductory remarks:"2-octyl cyanoacrylate is a medical grade glue encountered under various trade names; e.g., LiquiBand, SurgiSeal, FloraSeal, Dermabond, Orabase, Surgi-Lock and Nexaband. This was developed to be non-toxic and less irritating to skin tissue."

I searched amazon and the only two products in the list of 2-octyl cyanoacrylate products above from wikipedia that are sold (by amazon) are Dermabond (0.5ml for $17) and Surgi-Lock 2oc (2.0ml for $40). There is no other liquid bandage that compares to a product with the main ingredient cyano 2oc -- at least that is what the medical establishment believes (and I know from years of experience, having tried all the liquid bandages on the market). Sorry the real stuff is expensive, but you get what you pay for (plus they can charge doctors nearly any price and get away with it).

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Off topic somewhat, the doctors in our family have recently turned me on to an excellent non-liquid bandage which they use, but a year later, pharmacies still do not sell this quite amazing product. However Amazon does sell it, "3M Micropore paper tape" (also called "3M Micropore surgical tape" because that's what surgeons use). 12 small portable rolls of 10 yards(!) each are about $10, which will last you forever. I have been using the 1" wide version for the past year (also have the 2" wide version, but haven't had a wound that wide yet :-) and am very impressed by its properties. You can easily tear it by hand (no scissors needed!) to the length you want, you can put it on a wound in one layer or wrap it around a finger one or more times. It is "micropore", ie. it lets the wound breathe, and is waterproof enough to stay on through a couple of days of showers.

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12/26/14 update: "3M Vetbond" is currently the most cost-effective of the thin medical-grade cyanoacrylate products.Apply one layer (1 drop), let dry (blow on it for faster drying), then apply one or two more layers (drops) and let dry between each, to get the desired thickness.One bottle should last for at 50 two-drop skin crack fixups.

By the way, the "3M Nexcare skin crack care" product is almost useless in comparison to "3M Vetbond"

If you let your fingers get too dehydrated (O'Keeffe's Working Hands is the best I have found as a moisturizer), this will temporarily close the cracks. It is the best product I have found. It is much like nail polish. It has much better sealing and adhesive properties than New Skin. I really have not found a product nearly as good as this one.

At taking care of SKIN CRACKS this is the best product out there. It is not a liquid bandage! If your knuckles are frayed or abraded, or you have fingertip cracks, this stuff will allow the area to heal with a flexible coating of liquid that dries to a pliable clear finish. It will need to be re-applied for a few days until healing is complete. It is not for open wounds, or cuts. It is for ... skin cracks!

This stuff is mildly helpful for those nasty cracks between finger and nail that tend to develop in winter, but you have to keep reapplying, and should probably apply liquid bandage over that. I'm a finger-picking guitarist, and my fingers really take a beating. Using this stuff and liquid bandage provided a cushion eventually, but it looked messy and ugly. I did much better using Working Hands hand cream

If you have those cuts on your hands in the Winter like I get then this is what you'll need. I get cut to ribbons because my hands are in water a lot and in the Winter that can be very bad. We have very hard water and my hands sting with pain with the cuts. I just brush this on, it's like nail polish and the stinging is gone. It stays too! It drys on your skin protecting it from the water. I apply it once a week. You only need it on the cuts. I use Zim's crack creme for the rawness and that works great too.

This is a great buy with 24 ounces in total as opposed to tiny bottles that look like nail polish. You may need to put it on up to four times a day as the finger protectors my husband wears cause sweating and also friction causes it to wear off. This works well but it is not thick-about the consistency of clear nail polish so you may have to put on more than one coat at a time. It helps in conjunction with the waterproof finger protectors he wears as well as latex gloves when he washes dishes. It is not tacky or sticky and will not cling to gloves. Will continue buying this product.

I've been using this product for over a year now and I think it's great. I've used a similar product in the past, but it stung badly when I applied it. This stuff barely stings at all, and only on the deepest cuts. I use it frequently around my fingernails and it cuts down on pain.